Fun Zone charts a new course

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NEWPORT BEACH Locals cherish the Balboa Fun Zone as a little vignette from the past – its rides, arcade games, the carousel and the Ferris wheel.

But after 76 years of providing the community with tacky yet enjoyable entertainment, the Fun Zone is gearing up for a big change.

ExplorOcean, formerly known as the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum, has begun a vigorous fund-raising campaign for a $105 million center that will feature a three-story “ocean literacy center” with 4-D attractions, ocean-theme rides, interactive exhibits and an ocean education curriculum that will create partnerships with school districts. Officials hope to break ground in summer 2016.

When the project is completed in 2018, it will attract 350,000 annual visitors and achieve at least 70 percent of its revenue from ticket sales, boardwalk attractions and waterfront activities, said Tom Pollack, capital campaign chairman. That's twice the revenue earned by the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana and the Ocean Institute in Dana Point.

The ocean literacy center will have a unique design, including three 30-foot “grow walls” that will be covered with vegetation, said Richard D'Amato of Irvine-based LPA, the architectural firm working on the ExplorOcean project.

The entire roof will be covered with solar panels that will help power the building, he said.

Pollack said he has been encouraged by words of support from the likes of Roy Disney and James Cameron. The project is, however, still in its infancy, he said. It will require the blessing of both the City Council and the California Coastal Commission.

In September, the city commissioned the Balboa Village Advisory Committee, which includes Mayor Keith Curry and Councilman Michael Henn. The city will fix the streets and put in much-needed landscaping as well as allocate funding for facade improvements, Henn said.

Henn called himself an “enthusiastic supporter” of the ExplorOcean project. He anticipates the city cooperating with ExplorOcean to build a new parking structure in the area.

The project is not without its opponents. Longtime residents including Louise Fundenberg were sad to see the iconic carousel go in 2011 when its lease ended.

“I loved that merry-go-round as a kid,” she said. “Putting a few patio chairs in its place isn't doing it for me.”

Howard Hall, a board member of the Newport Beach Historical Society, said he hopes that ExplorOcean's project is successful.

Regardless of what is done with the Fun Zone, the area's history must be preserved, Hall said.

“Back in the day, Balboa was a destination,” he said. “It was a time when there were fewer attractions in Southern California, and this was it.”

Pollack says ExplorOcean is no amusement park, but it will have its own version of boardwalk games, including one that's being designed called “Burt the Bullshark.” It's a shark ride much like a mechanical bull ride.

“We're not SeaWorld or Disneyland,” he said. “But, this is going to be a cultural center that builds on Newport Beach's rich nautical heritage and our relationship with the ocean. We treasure the history of the Fun Zone, too. But we hope to give people new memories, as well.”

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